TechWhirl Sponsors

About TechWhirl

TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.

For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.

> To elaborate on this point: I always have trouble with the claim that
> our specialty is communication. Perhaps I take the ability to
> communicate for granted, but I consider it no more than the basic
> requirement for the job. To say that a writer communicates is a
> tautology, and not very useful. The question should be WHAT are we
> communicating, not whether we are doing so, or how skilled we are. After
> all, the ability to sling a memorable phrase or write grammatically is
> fairly common. The ability to structure material is much rarer, and
> depends on the material itself.

We must be writers; engineers and programmers would never have a weeklong,
soul-scouring discourse like this. Don't believe me? Go check out
slashdot. They may get into the metaphysics of property rights and the GNU
license, but they're not turning themselves inside out over what they do vs.
who they are.

Not that the conversation isn't valid. It's just that your SME's aren't
having it with themselves.

Peace!

Kevin

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now's a great time to buy RoboHelp! You'll get SnagIt screen capture
software and a $200 onsite training voucher FREE when you buy RoboHelp
Office or RoboHelp Enterprise. Hurry, this offer expires February 28, 2002. www.ehelp.com/techwr